Brandon Presser - The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania, and Mutiny in the South Pacific

W hen I traveled to Pitcairn in 2018, it was not my intention to write a book about the infamous HMAV Bounty s mutineers and their descendants. But the longer I spent there, the more questions I had: How did forty-eight people come to live on an island impossible to access by commercial conveyance? And what really happened to their forebearers who settled on the lonely rock some two hundred years prior? Every time I peeled back the proverbial onion, I found another layer that seemed more unbelievable than the last. This operatic saga of treason and obsessionpaired with the abject strangeness of a modern society of castawayswas, quite simply, the most fantastical story I had ever come across in my fifteen-plus years as a journalist.

Its so incredible, in fact, that the history of the mutineers violent undoing reads more like an epic novel. But I can assure you that this is indeed a work of nonfictionevery sentence on every page was weighed and considered after three long years of rigorous research, combing through hundreds of resources from old captains logs and newspaper clippings to the other tomes penned by writers who have similarly descended down into the darkness of Pitcairn. Fact-finding continued beyond the library too; in-depth interviews and seminars with historians, psychologists, religious scholars, and experts on Polynesian culture helped paint a more fully formed perspective on both the causes and effects of tribalism, trauma, psychopathy, paranoia, and survival in the bleakest of conditions.

In the past, the Pitcairn chronicle has largely been illuminated through the mutineers point of view (Fletcher Christian in particular). Here, great care has been taken to dismantle the misogyny and racism inherent in the white, colonial male gaze, offering broader insight into how this diverse cast of characters grappled with the overwhelming adversity of their very real fates. Relative to the British sailors, little is known about their Tahitian consorts, whoin previous accounts of the Bounty s journeyhave been othered and infantilized through the use of broken English. In this version, the dialogue attributed to the women (and some of the secondary seamen) has been tweaked to more accurately reflect the reality that they were just as rational, cunning, and self-actualizing as the men long considered the heroes of this tale. This is the only rejiggering in an otherwise authentic recounting of what took place following historys favorite mutiny: eighteen years of solitude on the most remotely inhabited island in the entire world.

Enthusiasts and academics will find a comprehensive reference and bibliographical section at the end of this book detailing each piece used to put this puzzle together; it is my hope and intention, however, that you simply enjoy the narrative herein as a story whose details happen to be wickedly true.

THE BOUNTY CREWMEN

William Bligh : commander

John Fryer : master

Fletcher Christian : masters mate

Thomas Huggan (Doc) : surgeon

John Hallett : midshipman; Blighs protg

Thomas Hayward : midshipman; Blighs protg

Peter Heywood : midshipman; Christians protg

Edward Young : midshipman

William Brown : assistant gardener

Thomas Burkitt : able seaman

Charles Churchill : master-at-arms

Isaac Martin : able seaman

William McCoy : able seaman

John Mills : gunners mate

John Millward : able seaman

Matthew Quintal : able seaman

Alexander Smith : able seaman

Matthew Thompson : able seaman

John Williams : able seaman

THE TAHITIAN WOMEN

Mauatua : leader of the Tahitian women; Christians companion

Susannah : an aristocratic Tahitian; Youngs companion

Jenny : Mauatuas friend; a low-caste Tahitian

Faahotu : Mauatuas maid; a healer

Tevarua : Susannahs maid; Quintals companion

Obuarei : Susannahs maid; Smiths companion

Nancy : Tararos companion

Teatuahitea : Browns companion

Teio : McCoys companion; Baby Sullys mother

ON TAHITI

Teina : chieftain of a prominent Tahitian clan

Itia : Teinas wife

ON TUBUAI

Tamatoa : chieftain of western Tubuai

Tinarau : chieftain of southern Tubuai; Christians enemy

Taaroa : chieftain of northern Tubuai; Christians ally

THE POLYNESIAN MEN ON PITCAIRN

Tetahiti : Tubuaian warrior; Christians blood brother

Oha : Tubuaian teenager; Tetahitis cousin

Minarii : Tahitian boy

Teimua : Tahitian nobleman

Niau : Tahitian teenager

Tararo : nobleman from the island of Raiatea

THE DESCENDANTS (MODERN-DAY PITCAIRNERS)

Steve Christian : patriarch of the Christians

Olive Christian : Steves wife

Carol Warren : matriarch of the Warrens

Jay Warren : Carols husband

Isabel Christian : Steve and Olives granddaughter

Shawn Christian : Steve and Olives son; mayor

Meralda Warren : Jays sister

Simon Young : a recluse

JAMES NORMAN HALLS DESCENDANTS ON TAHITI

Kate Hall : granddaughter

Nancy Hall Rutgers : daughter; Kates aunt